Media Monopoly On Notice

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http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15283

 

Media Monopoly On Notice

 

 

By Don Hazen, AlterNet

March 1, 2003

 

Sometimes elected officials need to come face-to face with the overwhelming

consequences of their actions before they are willing to change, or to overcome

denial.

 

 

 

Some key members of Congress maybe undergoing this form of reality therapy as

they begin to better grasp the stark ramifications of the media deregulation

they have enabled. One overwhelming result of their actions, for example, is the

Clear Channel Communications buying spree – the company now owns more than 1200

radio stations – which has run roughshod over the nation's commercial radio

system, turning it into a wasteland of conformity and commercialism. In

contrast, back in 1996, the combined total of the number of stations owned by

the two largest radio chains was a mere 115.

 

 

 

Members of Congress of both parties, who are responsible for the deregulation

debacle, are now being forced to take another look at the serious consequences

of their actions because of a wide range of complaints emanating from grassroots

organizations, from artistic producers, and from voters who, in the shadow of

9/11, are increasingly aware of how their media system shortchanges their needs

..

 

 

 

When a New York Times poll shows that 42 percent of Americans think that Saddam

Hussein and not Osama bin Laden was responsible for the terrorist attacks of

9/11, reasonable people begin to fear that our seemingly war-hungry corporate

media system is serving to a dangerous extent as a propaganda tool.

 

 

 

A recent column in the New York Times by conservative pundit William Safire

argued that the media system is hiding the real story because it is unwilling to

" expose the broadcast lobby's pressure on Congress and the courts to allow

station owners to gobble up more stations and cross-own local newspapers,

thereby to determine what information residents of a local market receive. " The

Safire column suggests that even conservatives fear the rapid consolidation of

media outlets. These protests from the establishment indicate, at the very

least, some kind of split among the elites, which is often a necessary

ingredient for change.

 

 

 

The coming months maybe the time when a wide range of groups come together –

probably under the public radar thanks to the war – to stop the unbridled

deregulation of the media system. There is increasing evidence that growing

numbers of the public are willing to stand up and express their unhappiness with

the way media conglomerates are using the public airwaves. And just last week

FCC Chairman Michael Powell's deregulatory agenda suffered a rare defeat in a

battle among the telecom companies over access to local phone systems,

suggesting that the stifling influence he has exercised over the commission is

at an end.

 

 

 

Powell is pushing to do to the rest of the media system what the FCC and

Congress did with radio. As Jeffrey Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy

reminds us, " If Powell is successful, one major TV network will be able to buy

another, merge with cable giants, and swallow up newspapers and additional radio

and TV stations. Channels serving diverse communities – including Latinos and

African Americans – will continue to be owned principally by the giants. "

 

 

 

The article that follows this editorial, written by activist Professor Bob

McChesney and the Nation's Washington correspondent John Nichols, captures some

of the spirit of the recent wave of energy bubbling up around this issue. New

organizations are emerging and an anti-media concentration campaign may be

brewing – who knows maybe even a corporate campaign and boycott against Clear

Channel maybe in the works.

 

 

 

For more background information, read Eric Boehlert’s powerful article about

Clear Channel and his series on media concentration available at Salon.com.. And

while you are at it, the excerpt of Eric Alterman's book, " What Liberal Media? "

is an excellent primer for understanding how the accusation of liberal bias has

been central to rightwing propaganda spread by conservatives.

 

 

 

A healthy and democratic media has always been a central priority of

AlterNet.org. Even though we and our audience understand the importance of

independent media and particularly the need for a free internet , too many

people are brainwashed by the corporate media system. The mind-numbing fare on

television – including the recent epidemic of reality shows which is just the

latest example of a nosedive to the lowest common denominator – is truly

discouraging.

 

 

 

The only way to reach truly large audiences with independent media is to get

more access to the public airwaves. AlterNet's Media Culture content page sends

out an email newsletter every week to thousands of people interested in this

issue. We will be closely tracking the movement for media fairness and democracy

at Alternet and hope you will join with us in this fight. If you are interested

in receiving our weekly MediaCulture newsletter, please go to our sign up page

to become a r.

 

 

 

Don Hazen is the Executive Editor of AlterNet.org.

 

 

 

 

 

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Also in MediaCulture

 

Clear Channel's Big, Stinking Deregulation Mess

By Eric Boehlert

Feb 28, 2003

 

Making the Invisible Visible

By Miranda Spencer

Feb 28, 2003

 

The Surrender Of MSNBC

By Rick Ellis

Feb 28, 2003

 

Reading 9/11, from A to Z

By Paul McLeary

Feb 27, 2003

 

Internet Breathes New Life into Women's Media

By Sheila Gibbons

Feb 27, 2003

 

 

 

 

Also by Don Hazen

 

Rabbi Rift

Feb 13, 2003

 

Moving On: A New Kind of Peace Activism

Feb 11, 2003

 

Salon Goes for Broke

Jan 23, 2003

 

Movie Madness

Jan 10, 2003

 

2002: The Good, The Bad, The Worst

Dec 19, 2002

 

 

 

 

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